Xcel calls on customers
to curb energy use Monday

Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2008

ELLIOTT BLACKBURN

Regional electrical provider Xcel Energy asked customers to power down Monday afternoon as the utility worked on some unplanned repairs.

Problems at two of the company's coal-fired plants sapped the amount of electricity available in the Panhandle as the highest-demand portion of the day approached. The utility sent out a call for conservation while crews worked on repairs.

Xcel issued the warning but did not expect serious problems, spokesman Wes Reeves said. The issues were minor and should be resolved by the end of today, he said.

"They're something that happens but that you don't want to happen on a hot, high-load day," Reeves said.

The request did not change business at Lubbock Power & Light, which purchases all of its power from the company.

Lubbock's own natural gas plants fired up earlier than normal, but the request to cut energy consumption surprised director of system planning Donald Cullon.

"I don't know of any impact on us," Cullon said. "We're not having any voltage issues, or any kind of problems at all."

Xcel warned earlier this summer it had little power to spare and little margin for error. The company remains weeks away from powering on a new, 500-megawatt facility under construction outside of Hobbs, N.M.

A thin supply could force the first rolling blackouts through the region in company history, Xcel warned.

Brownouts and blackouts weren't part of the warning issued Monday. But that any statement over minor repair issues was issued at all demonstrated the problems of an electrical supply hovering so close to demand.

"This is certainly the situation you get into when margins are thin," Reeves said.